We are certainly busy at CWWA - working hard as THE national association for the water and wastewater industry in Canada. As I continue my tour across Canada attending all the provincial/regional association conferences, there is a lot we are promoting from CWWA. So if you don’t get to hear me at your local conference, here are the highlights of what I’ll be talking about:

On June 3rd, CWWA will be releasing a new report titled "Public Attitudes 2015". We, hope that this report starts to bridge the gap between the reality of our infrastructure challenge and the public opinions. The report suggests that the goal of an eventual communications plan would be to get municipal citizens to support, or at least accept, decisions by their local council or board to make major investments into water and wastewater systems. The report looks at messaging around the value of water, educating the public on how water/wastewater systems work and what might happen if we do not act soon – all with a hopeful positive message!

CWWA is excited to launch our new beta online Members Only Membership Directory. This Directory – just for CWWA members, contains all the information that our printed copy contains, but with the ability to search, add contacts to your favourites and contact fellow members directly through the web portal. It is also constantly updated to ensure the latest and best information is available.

The meeting was hosted by the City of London and included a pre-meeting Workshop of international and national speakers on the subject of Toilets are not Garbage Cans. The program for the workshop and the presentations can be found on the CWWA website at: ISO_flushables_workshop.asp

Public Works and Government Services Canada's Office of Small and Medium Enterprises and Strategic Engagement (OSME-SE), more commonly known as OSME, is studying specific aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and federal procurement.

Environment Canada is considering changes to the NPRI reporting that could impact our members, including new lower thresholds for cobalt and requiring "non-detect" concentrations for releases to water.

Liberal environment critic John McKay, MP for Scarborough-Guildwood has introduced legislation to end the sale of personal care products containing microbeads in Canada.Bill C-680, The Ban the Bead Bill, would amend the Food and Drugs Act to prohibit the sale of personal care products containing pieces of plastic up to five millimetres in size. Waste water treatment plants are unable to filter out these small plastic particles. As a result, microbeads work their way into Canada’s waterways where they are consumed by a variety of marine life, causing asphyxiation and/or blocking vital organs.

CBC News featured an interesting report that breaks down the differences between bottled and tap water quality, including an analysis of the regulations and relative safety. This is a great piece that champions municipal water supply and service.

Doris Dumais Director, MOECC Modernization of Approvals Branchpresented at the recent CANECT CONFERENCE that the Modernization of Approvals IT infrastructure developed for the electronic Environmental Compliance Approval system may be re-purposed to assist in the modernization of municipal wastewater approvals using a risk-based, client-centered electronic service delivery model.

Ontario’s Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) posted on the Environmental Registry, April 20, 2015, notice that the ministry has finalized a revised Water Supply Wells - Requirements and Best Management Practices Manual.

The purpose of the manual is to help protect Ontario’s groundwater resources, well supplies, and drinking water by providing greater clarity for the industry and well owners in understanding the relevant legislation; and best management practices.

The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) announced, April 13, 2015, that it intends to press the province to ensure that its proposed cap and trade system, also announced April 13, 2015, reflects the key role of municipal government in tackling climate change.

According to a Press Release from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in the U.S., wet wipe manufacturer, Nice-Pak Products, Inc., under Settlement, has agreed to stop advertising moist toilet tissue as flushable unless it can substantiate that the product is safe to flush.

The Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) announced recently that the mayors of 17 international cities across nine nations have collectively launched the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA) - a group of cities committed to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80 per cent by 2050 or sooner.

The Water and Environment Student Talks, also known as WEST, is an interdisciplinary conference organized by students for students and young professionals whose work relates to the water sphere. An annual event that started in 2014, WEST hosts speakers, panel discussions, workshops, and poster presentations over three days every June to highlight current issues and the latest water developments. The two core pillars of WEST are:

IDEXX Water is the global leader in water microbiology, providing tests that ensure the safety of drinking water and other water supplies for an estimated two billion people in more than 100 countries. Our easy, rapid, accurate tests and our full line of testing supplies, equipment and accessories are supported by a team of experts. IDEXX’s innovative testing solutions are making a world of difference by helping to ensure water quality and safeguard public health in communities around the globe.

Water CanadaThe Province of Ontario’s drinking water is among the best protected in the world, according to the 2013-14 Chief Drinking Water Inspector’s Annual Report, which provides details about the performance of municipal and other regulated drinking water systems.

Water CanadaRising water demands are putting increasing pressure on many water agencies’ infrastructure and thus signaling the possible need for greater capital investments. A key ingredient in knowing when these investments will be needed, as well as their scale, is having a good forecast of the likely future trends for water demands. Forecasting water demands can be labour, data, and time intensive—especially for smaller water agencies.

Water CanadaThe Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced a new fiscal agreement with its municipalities to "enhance supports to communities and strengthen the social and economic fabric" of the province.

Water CanadaResearchers from the University of Calgary and University of Alberta in collaboration with Alberta’s Provincial Laboratory for Public Health (ProvLab), Alberta Health Services, and FoodNet Canada will be using a "one health" lens to assess water quality and waterborne pathogens in rural Alberta. The "one health" approach recognizes that the health of people, animals, and the environment are all intrinsically linked.

Journal of CommerceIt will be another busy year in Manitoba in terms of the construction of water infrastructure projects.

We have 40 municipal water infrastructure projects worth $84 million in various stages of development throughout the province," said Doug Dobrowolski, president, Association of Manitoba Municipalities. "These include upgrades to water plants and water lines, sewage infrastructure and renewal, and a lot of lagoons."

And they are all being undertaken with the financial help of the Manitoba Water Services Board (WSB).

Windsor StarPredicting floods has come a long way from the days of driving around Essex County checking the levels of ditches and rivers and eyeballing a rain gauge.

While the Essex Region Conservation Authority still uses the eyes and experience of human flood monitors, it also employs an expanding system of web-based climate stations to help assess the need for issuing advisories.

Groundwater CanadaThe "foaming" drinking water wells of a few rural Pennsylvania homes have been infiltrated by chemicals commonly used in fracking operations, says new peer-reviewed research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Chemical Progress reports.

Journal of CommerceSome North American utilities are using drinking water flowing downhill through pipes to create electricity. Although the electrical power is created in modest amount, it can be used either privately or sold to the grid.

Journal of CommerceThe $38.5 million Advancing Canadian Wastewater Assets (ACWA) facility, located at the City of Calgary's Pine Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, is a first in the realm of wastewater-treatment research.